What are the fundamental beliefs by which we live? How do we form, inform, and reform these beliefs?
Alongside my classmate Genie Han, I co-created Believing Belief, a podcast series and philosophical website exploring the nature of belief itself. Our conversations tackle the questions that philosophy has grappled with for centuries: Can we prove God's existence? If not, what role does faith play? How do we reconcile suffering with divine perfection? And ultimately, what kind of knowledge can we truly possess?
Themes Explored
Theodicy & The Evil Demon
How do you know you're not being deceived? We examine Descartes' attempt to overcome radical skepticism through the "light of nature" and his proof of God's existence. Can subjective clarity ever establish objective truth? If God is perfect and omnipotent, can evil exist, or are we the unintended consequence of a creator who never thought about us at all?
Divine Perfection
Descartes claims God possesses all perfections and that perfection implies existence. But we challenge this: perfection should not imply existence any more than lacking a social life implies good grades. Using the "triangle of life" (sleep, studying, socializing), we show that perfect equilibrium is impossible for finite beings, and if perfection requires absolute balance, then even God cannot simultaneously be perfect, infinite, and existent.
Design & Intentionality
Paley's watchmaker argument suggests the universe's complexity demands a creator. But Putnam's ant drawing Winston Churchill in the sand reveals a deeper problem: without intentionality, representation has no meaning. Were humans meant to exist? If we're an unintended consequence of creation, does that absolve God of responsibility for evil? Can there be design without a designer who knew what they were designing?
The Epistemology of Faith
All knowledge rests on belief. Even Descartes' supposedly self-sufficient logic relies on assumptions: that he's thinking, that his logic is coherent, that he can be understood. Skepticism alone is immature: it's only useful for examining our convictions, not tearing down all reason. The real question isn't whether we can achieve objective truth, but what we've learned, what knowledge we can have, and how skepticism has strengthened belief.
Explore the Full Project
The complete Believing Belief project includes episode transcripts, source materials, and comprehensive explorations of each theme.
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